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School paper _ guidelines

This document provides guidelines to any learner who would like to

contribute to the school paper. It will be updated every month. Contact
Editor@progress.co.za for the latest copy.

Table of Contents

Table of Figures

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Introduction
The school paper has editors and journalists who
write articles regularly, but any learner can
submit contributions to the school paper. If the
contribution is good enough, it will get published.
This pamphlet will give you an idea of the things
we usually include in the school paper, and some
guidelines to help get your contribution
published.

Presentation of articles
It is important that articles submitted for publication should be easily readable and as well
presented as possible – this will help the editorial team to determine whether your article
will be accepted, or whether it will need further ‘touching up’. Here are the basic steps you
should follow when drawing up and submitting your article:
A. Plan the general layout
A.a Type in and format all the text
B. Pictures
B.a Insert pictures
B.b Resize if needed
B.c Supply captions
C. Fix any mistakes
C.a Perform a spell check
C.b Proofread for errors
D. Send your final article to the editor

There is a higher possibility that your article will be accepted if it is professionally presented,
with interesting content and error-free. Don’t forget that each article must be accompanied
with a hardcopy Article Submission Form.

Articles
Articles may not be more than 300 words long, and should be written in English so that all
our readers can read them. Think of them as very short essays – use what you have learned
in your language subjects about drafting, editing, paragraph structure and grammar.

Articles about sports matches

The editors of the newspaper publish game scores themselves. If you want to write an article
about a sports match, it has to have much more than just the score. When you write about a
sports match, you should try to give the reader a sense of what it was like to be a spectator
at the match. Tell your readers things about the match that they might want to know.

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YOU MIGHT WANT TO MENTION
 the ‘back story’.
Has your school played against this other team before? How do they usually fare against the
other team? Has our team or the other team suddenly improved a lot? Do the two teams
have ‘a history’? Were any of our or their best players unable to play, and how did that
affect the game? Do they or we have a new coach?
 what the vibe was like.
Did the players seem like they were just having fun, or were they deadly serious the whole
time? Were there a lot of spectators? Was it really intense, with spectators focusing on the
game and chanting war cries, or was it relaxed, with the different parents barbecuing
together and playing music at the side
of the field? The weather might also
contribute to the atmosphere at a
game. For example, a rugby match in
the pouring rain, with the spectators
huddling under umbrellas and the
players all covered in mud, has a very
different atmosphere from a match in
the blazing sun.
Figure 1: Describe the vibe
 what the best moments were.
Were any points or goals scored (or blocked) in interesting ways? For example, was the
winning goal scored in the last few seconds? Or did the ball roll around the top of the basket
for a while before finally dropping in? Or was there some excellent strategy involved?
DON’T
 write about it when our team loses miserably, because who wants to read about that?!
That said, you can, of course, still write about a game if our team lost in a way that they
can be proud of – for example, if they got a decent score or lost with one or two points
against a very strong opponent.
 focus exclusively on one player. If one player played very well or scored a really good
winning goal, you should definitely include that, but you should always acknowledge the
efforts of the whole team as well.
 dis anyone, ever. Don’t dis the other school (or team), their players, facilities or
spectators. That’s just mean, and it can get our newspaper or even our school in serious
trouble. Don’t dis the ref. EVER. That can have comebacks next time, man! Don’t dis any
moms or dads who made fools of themselves. Sure, it’s hilarious when a parent rants at
the ref or runs onto the field weeping with joy when their precious child scores a goal,
but the kid does not want the whole school to be reminded of that. Be nice!

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Articles about individual achievements
Sometimes, our students do well in extramural activities that are either not presented by the
school, or that very few learners in the school participate in (at all, or just at a particular
level).

YOU MIGHT WANT TO MENTION

 what the activity entails, especially if it’s unusual, or if some learners might not know
much about it. Give about one short paragraph’s worth of detail. For example, all our
readers might not know exactly what an Eisteddfod or Powerlifting or Bharatanatyam or
Voortrekkers is. Try to get the essential ideas across in about one paragraph, e.g.
The modern Voortrekkers teach children more about Afrikaans culture, emphasise
community service, and take kids on camps where they learn survival skills. According to
the UK Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, nature and the outdoors are languages that can be
learned, and once learned, never forgotten. (Bailey 2010)
 how the learner got involved in the activity, e.g. “Gina’s mom used to be a ballerina, and
still practices her ballet as part of her fitness routine. When she was four, Gina showed
an interest in these exercises. She joined the Lize Page dance academy at the age of six.”
 how other learners can get involved in the activity, e.g. “To participate in Mathletes, ask
Mrs Goff for information.” – a mathlete is a person who competes in mathematics
competitions at any level or any age. <<< >>>

Figure 2: Celebrate individual achievements

Investigative articles
Investigate something that learners might be interested in, and write an article about it.
Make sure that your topic would interest a lot of learners, and not just a small group.

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YOU MIGHT WANT TO MENTION
 The ‘back story’ – why did you think this matter was worth investigating? Why is your
topic important or interesting? How does it relate to the school or affect learners?
 The investigation process – why do you know more about the matter than the average
learner? How did you find your information?
An example of a good ‘research’ article topic from the past:
Is it safe? by Zanele Maleka, 2017. For this article, Zanele used surveys to find out where our
learners liked to hang out after school, and where they felt safe. She established the ten
places where our learners spent the most time after school. She then went to the Police
station and asked to see their statistics on how much crime had taken place in each of those
places in the previous few years. She established that, although lots of learners thought that
the mall was safer than the park, this was not really the case.
Suppose you find out about something bad going on in the school, like drug abuse or
corruption: you have to report it to the relevant authorities first, before you send us your
article. The principal has given us his promise that he will never sweep anything bad under
the carpet or ruin your ‘scoop’ by announcing it before the article comes out. He might just
want to take some kind of action before it is published: for example, if the article is about a
local drug dealer, he might want to get the police to arrest that drug dealer first – after all,
we wouldn’t want the drug dealer to read the article and make a run for it! After the
authorities have handled the situation, we will let you publish the article if the article is
good. WARNING

Articles about trends

It can be any trend: a trend in hairstyles amongst the learners, fashion, fitness, beauty, social
media, etc. You could write about the following:

 whether you think the trend is good or bad in any way. For example, you might mention
that posting lots of ‘selfies’ might make younger kids more vulnerable to paedophiles
who stalk them online.
 how popular it is. For this you could do a poll, or something simpler, like counting the
number of weaves with beads in the hall.
 how widespread the trend is. Is it happening all over the world, or just in your area or
school?
 how the trend started. For example, did a popular guy forget his belt one day, and now
everyone thinks it’s cool for their underpants to show?
Please be very careful about the wording of your article, or of any ‘hidden agenda’ behind
what you say, as it can backfire badly. With this in mind, please do not:

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 insult the people who are part of the trend. This will have a negative effect and you will
most likely start alienating people.

Reviews
You can review a book, movie, game, theatre production, etc. Once again, make sure that it
affects a lot of learners – do not review something that most of the learners have no access
to. Give the book, movie, etc. a score out of ten, and proceed to explain why you feel it
deserves that score. Reviews are a shorter type of article – do not exceed 100 words.
You might want to mention
(1) how it compares to other texts in its genre.
(2) how it compares to other work that the creator has done.
(3) what type of person would like it, even if you do not.
(4) why it might (or might not) be suitable as a school setwork.
(5) why you decided to review this particular work.
Don’t
 insult the people that do like it – a review reflects your personal opinion.
 use the review to complain about how much you hate the book that you are reading in
your language subject.

Articles about technology

This topic is popular with the learners, mostly because our paper
stays on top of the latest and greatest developments in
technology. We try to focus on new developments that at least
some of our learners would be able to access and/or afford, or
that might affect their lives in some way. These articles are often
a lot like reviews but they are different from reviews, because we
don’t bother writing about the less-than-awesome ones, and we
also try to make them more informative than reviews, to help
learners use the new technology. Here are some examples of
topics in this category:
Figure 3: Technology –
 New hardware starting young
 New cellphone models
 Interesting websites – good, clean ones, though...
 Useful websites – including peer-reviewed ones that learners can use for assignments.
We would like to publish a short article on an app in every paper. The Appendix contains a
list of the apps on Mr Gentle (the IT teacher’s) phone, but the list is too long to put in the
paper just as it is. So we would like someone to volunteer to write a short article about one
app every month.

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School events – 1st Term 2019

Below is a list of events that have been planned for early next year. Please diarise these
dates, and make every effort to become involved. Remember, we need articles for the
school magazine at the end of the year. Don’t forget your cameras!
Event Date
Orientation Day (Grade 8) 7 January
Jolli ‘Lympics School Sports Day 26 January
Geography outing 1 February
Open Day 8 – 9 February
Valentine’s Day – organised by Grade 11 14 February
Mathematics Olympiad 18 February
Musical Marathon (fund-raising) 1 March
Aquarium visit (Life Sciences) 8 March
Fire and Rescue Services – demonstration 14 March
Grade 9 Camp 16 – 19 March

Bibliography

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Appendix – Review of Apps

App Function Comment

Adobe View pdf files Essential for pdf e-mail attachments or downloaded
Reader LE pdf files

Angry birds Game Quick low attention span game excellent for getting
time to fly in bank queues.

CorePlayer Plays nearly all formats Best video player I’ve found to date. Codec’s are easy
to update.

Flashlight Camera flash can be used I always have my phone therefore it is exceptionally
app as flashlight useful to have a “built” in flash light.

Google Presentations Build presentations right in your web browser – no

Slides special software is needed.

Google Time management and Great for getting organised on the go. The latest
Calendar Scheduling version (2.58.0) includes a Copy and Duplicate facility.

Google Navigation The satellite view is useful when you want to make
Maps sure where you are – drawback is “data” cost.

Google Talk Instant messaging Additional instant messaging tool. Beats the cost of
SMS.

MSS Converts units – lengths, Offline converter saves bandwidth and cost.
Converter currencies, area, masses

MyMobiler View your mobile screen
on your desktop and
control your mobile from
your computer.
Must have utility, allows you to remotely manage
your phone from your desktop while it is tethered via
USB or Bluetooth. You can drag and drop to the
screen, the screen prints, copy and paste test to SMS,
e-mail, etc.

News24 Get breaking news, sport As you get older you like to be informed.
and lifestyle news from
South Africa and around
the world

Office Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, Much needed and used to quickly view e-mail
Mobile PowerPoint Mobile, attachments, edit small documents, rehearse
OneNote Mobile, and PowerPoints to be presented.
Outlook Mobile

Opera mini Browsing internet Opera mini allows for fast internet browsing and it
synchronizes with the opera browser on my desktop.

RSS Hub RSS Aggregator Easy to use RSS reader, I have 8 channels I follow and

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App Function Comment

regularly update.

Skype VoIP Useful little application allowing me to make voice

calls or send IM

Sprite Complete phone backup Only fools don’t backup – a good backup utility and
Backup backup regime is vital. I backup at least once a month.

WhatsApp Messaging app, exchange Cheap communication is always welcomed by the

messages without having general public. Advantages of WhatsApp is the
to pay for SMS compatibility with other phones.

YouTube Plays YouTube videos Useful for the odd YouTube video link in an e-mail.
player Multimedia entertainment while waiting for a lift /
taxi.

NUMBER OF APPS 